My 1963 GMC Build

[66-PMD-GMC]

I have a friend that has 773,000 + miles on his 65 GMC. No, Not a typo, almost 3/4 million miles. He has owned it for 30 years and taken great care of it.
I was going to keep mine a V6 but I had a BIG problem finding a source for rebuild parts and there are several parts I could not find and it was going to be very expensive.
I chose the Pontiac route as I have built them for 35 years and they are torque monsters and a Pontiac rebuild is half the cost of a V6.
Best of luck to you and Kudos to you for keeping it a GMC rather than a Chevy conversion.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Well more boring work today. Just cleaning off the gasket residue and the canals by the lifters. Gonna drop the oil pan out and take the pistons out this weekend. I moved the flywheel by hand and it didn't stick anymore so I'm pretty sure that was the problem. Gonna redo everything though just to make sure. But hey any time I'm working on this I'm happier than doing school work, that's for sure.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Does anybody know the gear ratios for the SM-420 transmission and I think a Dana 44 rear diff??

[Miller92]

Did you have to put a lil lift on your pickup to fit the 31" under it? I've got a '63, just stock suspension, and I was thinkin bout buyin some 33" from a buddy of mine but wasn't sure if they'd fit or not.

[66-PMD-GMC]

Your truck has trailing arms??
I saw on the 60-66 V6 GMC site that GMC's all have leaf springs and that trailing arms on them is evidence that a frame swap was performed.
I have personally seen GMC's with trailing arms but each and every time it was checked out, a Chevy VIN was found on the frame.
Have you checked this out on your truck?

[Ol'63Gmc]

I didn't put any sort of lift on it. I'm going to later on though because if I put weight in the bed the tires scrape against the inside of the quarter panels. As far as the frame being swapped I have no clue. The truck was bought by my dad 15 years ago, I'm 16 now so I was very small when he purchased it. He didn't know anything about the truck when he bought it, he just liked the way it looked and decided to use it as a lawn ornament for a while. Haha. I'll look into it though for sure now. Thanks.

[66-PMD-GMC]

after considerable investigation I found out some interesting facts on GMC 60-66.
60-62 had torsion front suspension and trailing arms.
63 was the big change when GMC, not built in any way by Chevrolet, went with a sprung front suspension and no GMC's 63 through 66 were produced with trailing arm rear suspension. Leaf spring suspension was the only rear suspension available on 1/2 ton and up GMC trucks for those 4 years. I haven't checked any other rears.
Also, GMC frames did not get the VIN number stamped on them either for those years.
Pretty interesting facts on the GMC. This information is for USA built trucks only.
Your build is cool, you need to post a video of it running when you get it fired up.

[Miller92]

Is your pickup a 3/4 ton or does it just have the 3/4 ton rearend?

[Ol'63Gmc]

Originally Posted by Miller92

Is your pickup a 3/4 ton or does it just have the 3/4 ton rearend?

I ran the Vin on the on the 60-66GmcGuy website and it reads that it's a 3/4 ton truck. The tags on the inside also say the GVWR is 7500lbs.

In other news, I'll be done with my online classes this week and will get back to working on the truck almost every day. I have new brake shoes to install then will put the engine back together. Then hopefully it'll see the road for the first time in 30 years.

[Miller92]

Sweet! I still got a couple months on mine. lol

[old_1966_GMC]

where did u get ur intake really digging the clean look on it im also wanting to restore my 305E V6 from my 65 gmc 3/4ton longbed just waitin for my tax doller so i can sneak some money out i know my wife wont find out.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

where did u get ur intake really digging the clean look on it im also wanting to restore my 305E V6 from my 65 gmc 3/4ton longbed just waitin for my tax doller so i can sneak some money out i know my wife wont find out.

It's just the stock intake. I cleaned it and wire brushed it down to the metal then put some VHT Aluminum engine paint on it.

[old_1966_GMC]

i thougth for a minute u had got a new repo. man looks really looks good i cant wait once i put my front suspension in mine then i can start with my motor as well too so are you going to clean your piston up ur self or are u taking them to a shop i really want to clean mine my self but dont know what type of solvents to use yet.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Originally Posted by old_1966_GMC

i thougth for a minute u had got a new repo. man looks really looks good i cant wait once i put my front suspension in mine then i can start with my motor as well too so are you going to clean your piston up ur self or are u taking them to a shop i really want to clean mine my self but dont know what type of solvents to use yet.

Thanks, man. I'm gonna clean them myself. I'm not sure exactly what we're gonna use to clean them with though. My dad has redone a lot of motors and knows his stuff. I'll get back to you with his response. We're supposed to get 6-8 inches of snow tomorrow, so I don't know how much I'll be able to do. Good thing is, I can climb in the engine bay and put the hood over my head. Lol

[old_1966_GMC]

heres a site i was giving sence i had made a new threat in the engine and drivetrain section thread is called "piston cleaning" this product is call piston kleen when u get to the page click on the web site shown and it'll take u straigth to the product they also a product for rust but dont if its any good its called evapo rust

http://www.thehollisterroadcompany.com/Pistonkleen.html

[Ol'63Gmc]

Well... we had snow on the ground for 28 consecutive days, so I was inside for a while. Got back out yesterday and today and plan on working through monday. Replaced the drivers side window regulator today, and have been doing a little bit of sanding on the rear quarterpanel. Gonna replace the passenger side regulator tomorrow morning and whenever my new window cranks and door handles come in I'll put them on also. I'll post pics tomorrow night. Forgot to take them today.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Goodness, I've been gone a while. Today is my last day of spring break at our high school. I spent part of it in Orlando, Florida with some of my classmates, and part of it here. Got sick going from the 85-90 degree weather back to snow though. Turns out everybody, that my truck is a 62... I checked the Vin on the title with the 6066GmcGuy website and it said that it was a 63. That was because the Vin number was written down wrong though. My Vin showed 1502PG on the title, but the tag has a J clearly on it instead of the G. I have no idea why I never looked before, I really should have. But I'll claim it as a lack of experience mistake. Haha. Anyways, haven't done much else. I did mess around with the torsion bolts some, and the front end of the truck sits about 3 inches taller now. The slope of the body line is around an inch and a half from above the back tires to above the front. Still haven't changed the brakes, but I did finish rebuilding the heads. Just gotta ridge-ream the cylinder walls and change the piston rings and what not. I'll throw up a pic of the "new" height. Not much difference, but I like it. In the picture for some reason I look as tall as the truck even though it's about 6'2" at the back of the cab and I'm 5'9". Whatever though, no biggie. The other pictures are of the new tire clearance up front and my "safety first" picture. Plus I apologize for the quality, new camera, still don't know how to change the settings.

[Miller92]

Man I love the way your pickup sits! I'm still trying to convert mine to look like a 3/4 ton. Got me a heavy duty bumper and stuff, mainly need new wheels and tires for the look now.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Thanks man! The wheels and tires were actually exactly what I was looking for, and luckily I got them from a neighbor for a great price. I got all 4 wheels and tires for 225. Just keep looking, and I'm sure you'll find some fat mud tires.

Also, a while back I posted asking about the gear ratios. I found both of them out. Got the info on the Muncie from 60-66 Gmc Guy and I finally got around to taking all the mud off the diff and finding the tag. The rear end is a Dana 44-19 Spline with 4.56 gears. I was quite pleased to hear that. Haha.

[66-PMD-GMC]

4.56 gears! Hope you have lots of gas stations around your town... you'll need them.

[Surfdaddy]

Looking at your truck brings me back. My brother had a 62 and I had a 63. We both lifted them and ran 33 1250's His was much easier to lift since all he had to do was crank on the torsion bars. His ride was much stiffer though. I took that truck almost everywere. Mud, snow, stream crossings, with the plugs on top of the motor All I had to do was put silicone around teh dist cap and wires and it would never stall. Check the ball joints and make sure you leave plenty of room to stop These trucks don't stop as well with big meats on them.

[66-PMD-GMC]

Your ride really looks tough dude...

[Captainfab]

Being a 3/4 ton, that rear differential should be a Dana 60 instead of a 44. The Dana 60 and the 44 look almost identicle. There should be the model number cast into the webbing on one side of the rear cover at the bottom.

[Ol'63Gmc]

Thanks for all the compliments guys, and good story, Surfdaddy. I'll be putting on new brakes all around before I get going. Plus I have a 7/11 gas station about a quarter mile up the road, haha. It'll just be paying for the gas that's the problem. Captainfab you are 100% right. I do apologize for not thinking again. Haha. On the bottom right there is the number 60 stamped on the webbing. I got kinda caught up in it and didn't do too much investigating. But you are right, it is a Dana 60. I'm glad to know that ya'll are catching my mistakes at least.

Got all the valves out today, and have been cleaning them. Half are done, will do the other half tomorrow. Hopefully will get the seals on and get them back in. The seals I took off were fine, but I already had replacements and figured why not. Will post pictures tomorrow with the rocker arm assemblies back on.. hopefully.

[creep]

Man, that thing looks mean!

I miss my big V6. I'm gonna have to find a new project to stuff it in.